I don’t know about your kids, but mine never seem to get sick at a convenient time. I wish we lived in a world where kids never got sick. I truly hate to see them suffer at all, but that’s life and the reality is kids are going to get sick and it will most definitely mess up your schedule.
So how do we manage when the germs invade our house and life comes to a screeching, grinding, ugly halt? We have a pretty full schedule but as a stay at home mom, I find there is rarely something going on I can’t cancel or reschedule if one (or both!) of my kids are sick, so that’s nice. On the other hand, I can cancel or reschedule just about anything to take care of sick kids and that’s sometimes a real bummer. And my kids know this too, so they choose girls night out to start dripping snot and hacking up a lung. The oldest has also become incredibly adept at screaming, crying and begging me not to leave her. Even if she’s left in the very capable care of her father, my solo trip to the grocery store will most definitely be the end of her.
After being cooped up for the better part of 10 days, missing school, church and playdates, we’re all about ready to start climbing the walls. As a mom, I’m frustrated at the lack of “me time” and my slightly Type A personality desperately needs a return to normalcy. However, for the past 10 days I’ve found it best to let my more strict parenting rules slide just a bit. There have been a lot of pajama days, lots of tv watching, lots of snacking, more junk food than I care to admit and my normal kitchening skills have been replaced with sandwiches, cereal and the occasional pasta dish. I really embraced my lack of schedule last week and took my oldest for ice cream. At 10am.
At the end of the day, I figure these are the times my kids are likely to remember. They’ll remember the abnormal before they remember the normal. When they remember their childhood they’ll remember spending days on end in pajamas watching movies, napping, getting to snack in front of the tv. They don’t feel the same conflict and desperation I feel not having my normal schedule, all they know is this one time they were sick, they asked mom to have ice cream for breakfast, and she said yes.
How well do you handle the sick days and disruptions to your routine?
You are speaking my language today. Anna suffered from allergies on Sunday. I’m down with a cold from you know where now. And she’s showing signs of snot accumulation (gross, right?) again. So all our best laid plans are ruined . . . at least today. 🙂